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Ezra Taft Benson (1811-1869)
|long_name=Ezra Taft Benson |birth_year=1811 |birth_month=02 |birth_day=22 |birth_locality=Mendon, Massachusetts |birth_nation-subdiv1=Massachusetts |birth_nation=United States |death_year=1869 |death_month=09 |death_day=03 |death_locality=Ogden, Utah |death_nation-subdiv1=Utah |death_nation=United States |ifmarried-g1=true |wedding1_year=1831 |wedding1_month=01 |wedding1_day=01 |wedding1_locality=Uxbridge, Massachusetts |wedding1_county=Worcester County, Massachusetts |wedding1_nation-subdiv1=Massachusetts |ifmarried-g2=true |wedding2_year=1844 |wedding2_month=04 |wedding2_day=27 |wedding2_locality=Nauvoo, Illinois |wedding2_nation-subdiv1=Illinois |wedding2_nation=United States |ifmarried-g3=true |wedding3_year=1846 |wedding3_month=01 |wedding3_day=26 |wedding3_locality=Nauvoo, Illinois |wedding3_nation-subdiv1=Illinois |wedding3_nation=United States |ifmarried-g4=true |wedding4_year=1847 |wedding4_month=03 |wedding4_day=04 |wedding4_nation-subdiv1=Nebraska |wedding4_address=Winter Quarters |wedding4_nation=United States |ifmarried-g5=true |wedding5_year=1847 |wedding5_month=03 |wedding5_day=18 |wedding5_nation-subdiv1=Nebraska |wedding5_address=Winter Quarters |wedding5_nation=United States |ifmarried-g6=true |wedding6_year=1853 |wedding6_month=06 |wedding6_day=04 |wedding6_locality=Salt Lake City |wedding6_nation-subdiv1=Utah |wedding6_nation=United States |ifmarried-g7=true |wedding7_year=1851 |wedding7_month=07 |wedding7_day=12 |wedding7_locality=Salt Lake City |wedding7_nation-subdiv1=Utah |wedding7_nation=United States |ifmarried-g8=true |wedding8_year=1866 |wedding8_month=09 |wedding8_day=15 |wedding8_locality=Salt Lake City |wedding8_nation-subdiv1=Utah |wedding8_nation=United States |globals= }} Biography Ezra Taft Benson (February 22, 1811 – September 3, 1869) (commonly referred to as Ezra T. Benson to distinguish him from his great-grandson of the same name) was as an apostle and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Early life Benson was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, the son of John Benson and Chloe Taft. His father moved to a farm in Uxbridge, Massachusetts in 1817 where he lived for at least 16 of the next 18 years. He managed a hotel in the center of Uxbridge and made a considerable sum of money which he invested in a cotton mill at Holland, Massachusetts, before moving West. Joins the LDS movement Benson, along with his wife, was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 19, 1840 in Quincy, Illinois. He had moved to Quincy previously, and first met members of the church when they came there at the time they were driven out of Missouri. In April 1841 the Bensons moved to Nauvoo. On April 27, 1844 Benson married a second wife, Adeline Brooks Andrus, the sister of Pamelia.Dew, Sherri. Ezra Taft Benson: A Biography. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1987) p. 4 Benson was ordained to the office of apostle on July 16, 1846. He replaced John E. Page in the Quorum of the Twelve. Missionary service Benson served as a church missionary in the United States and in the Sandwich Islands. His first mission in the 1840s took him to his birthplace of Mendon, Massachusetts. On this journey he also preached in Chambersburg, Illinois. During his second mission he was in New Jersey serving with John Pack when they received news of Joseph Smith's murder. From December 1844 to May 1845 Benson served another mission during which he served as president of the Boston Conference.Dew. Benson'. p. 4-5 Later Career He served in the Utah Territorial Legislature and died in Ogden, Utah. Marriage and Family Like many early Latter Day Saints, Benson practiced plural marriage. Benson had a total of eight wives and 35 children. 1st Marriage : Pamelia Andrus Benson married 'Pamelia Andrus (1809-1877)' of Northbridge on January 1, 1832, at Uxbridge. They lived at Uxbridge for the next three years, between 1832 and 1835. They also had lived in Northbridge, on his sister's farm in 1830 and 1831. He and Pamela had children, one of whom died here at Uxbridge in 1833. 2nd Marriage : Adeline Andrus 'Adeline Brooks Andrus (1813-1898), sister of Pamelia, would become his first polygamous wife. 3rd Marriage : Desdemona Fullmer '''Desdemona Wadsworth Fullmer (1809-1886) - Early convert to the Mormon Church and survivor of the Haun's Mill Massacre. Her father, Peter Fullmer (1774-1857), and brother, David Fullmer (1803-1879) played important roles in the pioneer migration of the Mormon Church to Utah. Her first husband died in 1835. She was then married to the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith (1805-1844) in 1843. After Joseph's martyrdom, her third marriage was to early Mormon Apostle, Ezra Taft Benson (1811-1869) as one of his plural wives. No children from this marriage. Other Marriages Eliza Ann Perry, Lucinda West, Elizabeth Gollaher, Olive Mary Knight, and Mary Larsen. See also *Taft family Famous Descendants Benson's great-grandson, also named Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994), also became an apostle of the LDS Church; the younger Benson served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in the 1950s and president of the LDS Church in the 1980s and 1990s. External links * *Ezra T. Benson Family Web Site __SHOWFACTBOX__ Notes Category:Converts to Mormonism Category:American Mormon missionaries in the United States Category:Mormon missionaries in Hawaii Category:People from Adams County, Illinois Category:People from Mendon, Massachusetts Category:People from Quincy, Illinois Category:People from Uxbridge, Massachusetts Category:People from Northbridge, Massachusetts Category:19th-century Mormon missionaries Category:Apostles (LDS Church) Category:Members of the Council of Fifty Category:Benson family Category:Doctrine and Covenants people Category:American general authorities (LDS Church) Category:Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature Category:Mormon pioneers